STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell was in court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing ahead of his murder trial that is set to begin next month. Farwell is accused of murdering 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, who was pregnant at the time, and staging her death to look like a suicide.
Family members and supporters of Birchmore stood outside the South Boston courthouse with signs as the hearing carried on for more than two-hours inside.
Prosecutors claim Farwell groomed Birchmore for sex when she was just 15-years-old and part of the Stoughton police mentorship program. In 2021, Birchmore was found dead at her Canton apartment in what initially appeared to be a suicide, until Farwell was indicted in 2024 on charges that he staged her murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
In the pre-trial hearing, the judge issued several rulings ahead of jury selection, including admitting Birchmore’s journals, texts, and social media posts as evidence. There was also a list presented outlining the hundreds of exhibits expected to be presented at the trial.
Birchmore’s relatives say that they just want justice all these years later.
“It is justice for somebody who can’t speak, and I’m trying to be her voice as best I can,” said Barbara Wright, Birchmore’s cousin. “And I know she would do the same for me. She was a fighter.”
The trial is scheduled to start during the first week in October, and expected to last for approximately three weeks.
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